The men's tennis team edged ever closer this weekend, but once again came up short in their quest for a Big Ten victory, losing 5-1 and 6-3 to Michigan and Michigan State, respectively.

In Saturday's match against Michigan, Coach Jan Bortner's squad had several close matches but came off the court with only one point, scored by Brett Englesberg in a 6-1, 6-1 wipeout of the Wolverines' Scooter Place.

Englesberg will try to equal that feat at 5 p.m. today as his team entertains former Atlantic 10 foe Duquesne at the Penn State Tennis Club.

But the Lions will have to bounce back from last weekend's tough defeats.

Freshman Ivan Spinner, who went 1-1, this weekend, attributed Michigan's success to experience.

"I think Michigan is a more experienced team. They just seem to pull out the close wins."

Bortner said that the location of Saturday's match affected the outcome.

"They definitely had a home court advantage," he said. "Their courts are about as fast as you can get. We had a little trouble adjusting to the court surface."

In Sunday's match against Michigan State, the scorecard read 3-3 after the singles matches, but the Lions failed to go the distance in the doubles matches, dropping the 6-3 decision.

Bortner was pleased with the singles play against the Spartans, but felt that the return of serves in the doubles matches needed work.

"We battled Michigan State to a close match," Bortner said. "I was very impressed with our guys getting three singles victory.

"(The return of serves) seems to be our Achilles heel this year," Bortner added. "Our guys like to make the big return. Unfortunately, when you try to make the big return you make too many errors."

Spinner also felt the doubles play needed improvement.

"I think we need a lot of work on our doubles. We've lost four matches this season with 3-3 ties going into doubles. We just seem to slack off."

Bortner feels the outlook is good for his squad heading into tomorrow's match with Duquesne.

"We've had good success against the Atlantic 10," he said. "We defeated Temple 5-1 earlier this season and had the big 8-1 win over St. Bonaventure last week.

"We'd like to get a clean sweep of the Atlantic 10 teams."

Spinner felt that the team's performance this past weekend was a good sign going into today's match.

"I think we should do well," he said. "Most of our guys played really well against Michigan and Michigan State, and we'll be on our home court which will really help."